Dean Demanuele – Tracks of My Time (interview)

Malta-raised tech-house producer Dean Demanuele made his first breakthrough when he teamed up with Pig & Dan after moving to London, going on release a slew of acclaimed productions and remixes for labels including Cocoon and Jon Digweed’s Bedrock.

Nowadays splitting his time between London, Malta and Berlin, the still only 26 years old producer has more recently teamed up with Lee Van Dowski, bringing next level releases on the likes of Leena Music, Mobilee records and Intacto, with lots more to come.

Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff): Your all-time favourite club track?

Dean Demanuele: “I must say it’s ‘Music Sounds Better With You’ by Stardust. I was really influenced a lot by the Daft Punk sounds a few years back when it all started. I think they were the first form of House/Electronic music I had listened to when I was a child and purchasing their singles and albums gave me a big treasure and warmth. I still have them in my studio to this day.”

Skrufff: The track you’ve finished a set with the most often?

Dean Demanuele: “Being both a Live artists and a DJ it is very hard to shift between new tracks especially when I find something that fits my mood completely which is very rare. Recently I fell in love with a remix by the mighty Dj Koze of Mount Kimble’s ‘Made To Stray’. It always does the trick.”

Skrufff: The track you cleared the floor with?

Dean Demanuele: “One time I was playing live and I remember I just went off boundaries, this sometimes works, but sometimes it doesn’t. I tried to experiment with some parts on the fly, which wasn’t the best decision I ever made (laughing). It ended up being a wrong mix between synths and bass-lines. But you always learn from your mistakes and taking it too far out does not mean it will always work.”

Skrufff: The track you rescued a floor with?

Dean Demanuele: “On the other hand I can always count on Coldcut’s “Autumn Leaves”, a track I played a few days back which always brings back the mood I want to have during my sets. It’s one of those tracks you say to yourself . . . where did this come from?”

Skrufff: The cheesiest/ guiltiest secret track you love?

Dean Demanuele: “I’m quite particular when it comes to music I love compared to music I like, because I think there are very, very, few I genuinely love. There is one track my mum loves to hear all the time which brings back good old memories. She’s a big fan of the Bee Gees, and ‘How Deep is Your Love” is one track I grew up with and was constantly bombarded with when it was played on the radio or television. I kind of like it more for the meaning then for the track itself nowadays. It makes me remember my childhood.”

Skrufff: The track that you loved that everyone hated?

Dean Demanuele: “I was a big fan of Cocoon’s work back in the days and growing up in Malta loving techno, where electronic music is not something really normal. I used to show everyone tracks I discovered from Pig&Dan and most people were looking at me as it was some kind of devil’s work. I later worked for some years with Pig&Dan and we are very good friends to this day. Thinking about it, it’s really funny how everything progressed at such a fast pace.”

Skrufff: The track that everyone else loved that you hated?

Dean Demanuele: “I hated everything which had Trance involved in it. I still can’t handle it to this day. It has always been very popular in Malta and I really try to be an open-minded person but I honestly can’t handle it. No disrespect intended because everyone has his tastes and I respect that, but I’m really sorry, it’s not for me.”

Dean Demanuele: “Thanks for having me first of all, it was a nice journey through my past and present. I am working a lot with my newly music partner Lee Van Dowski. We just released some tracks on Mobilee records and we have some new tracks coming up on Intacto and my own label Dazed & Confused Records. I am really looking forward to my gig schedule this year: you can find all the info on www.deandemanuele.net. “